Precision
Due to the fact that the book is a recapitulation and reinterpretation of Vignola for a big part, many concepts can be seen in the ‘cours d’architecture’ that are also valid for Vignola’s books. One of the concepts that carries on throughout the book is detailing. As well as Vignola, d’Aviler further considers architectural details in his books and adapts them to the architecture of his time. Although many architects have mentioned most of the discussed details in his book already, but he found an approach to describe them in a way that could be used as a manual for other architects as well. But not only did he understand architectural details good, but he also very precisely described and illustrated them. While the beginning of the book discusses Vignola’s ‘Regola delli cinque ordini d’archittetura’, later in the book he addresses monuments of both Vignola and Michelangelo down to every last detail. However, it is the ending of his book that made me chose the concept of detail for his work, because he finds ways to describe the decorative motives and architectural detail so fitting. As it says in the title ‘cours d’architecture qui comprend les order the Vignole’, the book is about understanding the Orders of Vignola and further discussing and specifying them. There are a few aspects, that are very important to understand why I chose detail as the concept for this book. One would be the astonishing illustrations by d’Aviler himself, which were even more detailed and precise than the ones from previous books, much as the illustration his book also further improved and updated the content the books that were written on similar subjects before. Another key element in the book is commentary on Vignola’s book, where he contributed his own personal interpretations and experiences, to add an even deeper understanding to the subject. Furthermore, he studied the work of great architects that came before him to also demonstrate the importance of detail and what one can learn from history. Since the book is supposed to function as kind of a manual, his approach of using commentary and examples along with his own expertise in decorative motives, can probably help earn a deeper understanding of the architecture of his time and the importance of details and precision in architecture in general. Overall, I think that the book is very revealing and supports an insight on the thinking of architectural history.
Details – Vignola – Illustration